Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Britain's Health Service Death Panels

US conservatives were shouted down over drawing attention to plans to include 'death panels' in the structure of Barack Obama's health care 'reform'.

American socialists said they were nothing of the sort, although the measures were quickly stripped from the proposed bill, where they were included not under medical considerations but as a means of keeping the down the inherantly crippling costs of a national health service.

Then the UK media got nasty when American conservatives said they didn't want a system like the British National Health Service.

Rosemary Munkenbeck says her father Eric Troake, who entered hospital after suffering a stroke, had fluid and drugs withdrawn and she claims doctors wanted to put him on morphine until he passed away under a scheme for dying patients called the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP)... When a patient is put on the pathway the medical team looks for signs that they are approaching their final hours, which can include loss of consciousness or difficulty swallowing medication. But doctors last week warned semi-consciousness and confusion are a side effect of painkillers such as morphine if patients are also dehydrated. Palliative care experts... last week warned that the LCP can mask signs that a patient's condition is improving.

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About Me

We pay homage to the Thin Man series of films from the 1930s in which William Powell (Nick) and Myrna Loy (Nora)solve mysteries with style, humour and a martini.
We explore the mysteries of human behaviour as revealed in politics, media and entertainment (and whatever else catches our fancy).